Kibbutz

Palestine October 1946. In a convoy of trucks and rusting jeeps nineteen young men and women drive down to the Negev desert under cover of night. Their mission: to create a Jewish settlement in defiance of the British rulers of Palestine. Working in frantic haste they erect three primitive tin huts and surround them with a barbed wire fence. By the first light of dawn Kibbutz Noam is born. <p>The story is told through the eyes of Hava Chira an idealistic young English girl who has left a comfortable middle-class home to go to Palestine as a pioneer. Hava quickly learns the meaning of deprivation--living without running water or electricity or any comforts virtually cut off from the outside world. In the first turbulent years she experiences hardship danger excitement even war-and develops a deep connection to her new community. <p>Threading through the novel is the story of Hava's passion for Amir a handsome young Israeli resistance fighter who epitomizes her dream. At first she idealizes Amir but as time goes on she begins to have doubts-and is faced with an agonizing decision.